A special question and and answer screening of a Canadian-Lebanese drama film is taking place at the ByTowne Cinema on July 4. Anna Fahr, an award-winning Ottawa filmmaker, wrote and directed, Valley of Exile. At 6:30 p.
m. on Thursday. The film will premiere in the nation’s capital before coming to theatres across Canada on Friday.
The cast includes a combination of professional and non-professional actors, including residents of the refugee camp, Fahr told CityNews in an interview. Nearly a decade went into creating the film. She began writing the script in 2014 followed by film production that started in 2021.
After immigrating from Iran, Fahr’s family relocated to the U.S where she was born. Her family moved to Ottawa soon after.
“As an Iranian Canadian, I’ve always wanted to create work that challenges people’s thinking about the Middle East, particularly people in Canada and the U.S.,” she said.
“I grew up seeing images on the news and in Hollywood cinema that didn’t reflect my understanding and experience of my own culture.” While certain stereotypes about the Middle East have been reinforced in western countries, there is much more to the culture — including close-knit families, traditional food, and dancing, said Fahr. Graduating with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Film Production at Concordia University in 2003, Fahr said her interest in questions of migration and identity have inspired her work, including a short narrative film called Transit Game.
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